6 reasons to buy/renovate a new greenhouse floor or outdoor field

If you are expanding, replacing, or renovating certain parts of your growing areas, investing in a new cultivation floor or system makes sense. But even at other times, with other issues, it can be beneficial to consider investing in your growing surfaces. Here are 6 good reasons for buying a new cultivation floor or system.

1. Expansion or renovation of your company

As already indicated, investing in a new cultivation floor or cultivation system is logical when growing or renovating your business. In fact: this is a must. After all, you want to be able to grow and deliver the best plants.

2. Cultivation problems and failure

As you work with certain cultivation floors or systems for a longer period of time, water drainage may be a problem. This is often the case, for example, with ground cloth or cloth with a rock layer underneath. After several years, the soil becomes saturated, and water permeability declines. Track formation also often occurs in the floors because tractors and other equipment are frequently driven over them.

 As a result, puddles of water remain on the floor, and plants stand 'with their feet' in the water. With all its consequences, think, for example, of disease and failure. And because there is water standing in places on the cultivation floor and not in others, significant differences in growth and flowering occur. In other words: there is no longer uniform crop growth. Then it is time to start thinking about purchasing a new cultivation floor or system!

3. Changing laws and regulations

Emission-free cultivation, collection, and water recirculation are receiving more attention. The rules around discharge and recirculation are becoming increasingly stringent worldwide. This development is reinforced by the fact that this cultivation method is also technically possible; policymakers are catching on.

 To prepare for stricter laws and regulations in this area, it is good to think about a cultivation floor or system that fits the picture of emission-free cultivation. Concrete floors, growing tables, and ErfGoedFloor, among others, come to mind.

4. Lack of sufficient and clean irrigation water

Water is becoming increasingly scarce, and the availability of good quality water for irrigation is becoming an issue. Is this also a problem on your farm? It may be helpful to invest in a different cultivation floor or system. Switch, for example, from an open floor to a floor with a dense substrate. This is because such a floor makes it possible to collect and reuse water, which logically improves water availability for your farm.

5. Automation of business processes.

Filling labor needs is becoming an increasing challenge; after all, there are fewer and fewer "hands" available. As a grower, this may be a reason for you to start thinking about automation. Investing in a new cultivation floor or cultivation system is often also a must in this case.

 If, for example, you are currently growing on fixed cultivation tables or a floor without a solid base, then automation is difficult. A mobile cultivation table, a concrete floor, or an ErfGoedFloor does offer the possibility of working differently and investing more in automation. With an ErfGoedFloor, for example, using automatic conveyors and forklifts is entirely possible. An investment in automation gives the highest return with a crop that grows and flowers uniformly.

6.  Improving the greenhouse and microclimate

Is the climate in your greenhouse, as well as the microclimate around the plant, not optimal? Do you need more control options in this regard? It may be interesting to invest in a different cultivation floor or cultivation system. Think particularly of ebb and flow floors - such as the ErfGoedFloor - which can be filled with water.

 Without the plants absorbing this water, you can cool the crop. Also, the water in the floor evaporates, which provides cooling and a higher RH. This leads to the plant continuing to be actively growing longer. The stomata then remain open, so the plant also cools itself. More assimilation automatically means more growth (read more about this in our white paper on plant health).

 Ebb and flood floors can not only help to improve the climate and growth inside the greenhouse; they also have added value for outdoor crops.

More information?

Would you like more information about investing in a new cultivation floor or system? And about which system best suits your needs and situation? Then download the whitepaper in which we compare 7 substrates (cultivation systems). Do you want to plan a call? Please leave here your message!

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